Yes, I was at the Friends of the Earth protest, along with about 30 others, on the steps of a Collins St building at which a Federal Government panel was listening to arguments from individuals and groups about the validity of an idea from the Liberal/National Party to build several nuclear power plants throughout Australia.
Among the speakers at the protest were two fellows from the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, Associate Professor Tilman Ruff and Australian Conservation Foundation nuclear-free campaigner Dave Sweeney.
Both played pivotal roles in the creation of ICAN, an Australian organisation that was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2017.
Also speaking was Victorian Trades Hall Council representative Danae Bosler, and people from the Melbourne-based climate activist group Lighter Footprints and the Kooyong Climate Action Alliance.
However, inside the building and presenting to the government hearing was Lighter Footprints energy transition convenor David Strang.
His presentation was wide-ranging but the fundamental points, read out at the protest, were:
- Nuclear power will take too long to establish, and we will have a renewable grid before any nuclear power stations can be commissioned.
- Nuclear power is expensive and will add to the burden on the public purse either through increased energy prices or through government subsidies. It will not be able to compete in the market place.
- Australia needs flexible power generation to meet future demands and nuclear power is inflexible, which is unsuitable for the Australian energy market.
- Nuclear power has no social licence and is currently prohibited federally and in many states and territories.
- There are extreme risks associated with nuclear power.
Mr Strang told the inquiry that his group, Lighter Footprints, opposed establishment of nuclear power in Australia because it could not see any benefits arising from the introduction of nuclear power.
“In fact, we believe it would be detrimental to Australia’s efforts to curb climate change,” he said.
Passers-by, and there were hundreds, heard the protestors frequently break into chants about the proposed nuclear power stations declaring them “Too expensive, too slow, too dangerous”.
So, what does this mean for the people of the Goulburn Valley?
Well, at the next federal election, people here will be called on to decide between two political parties — one that intends to take Australia down the significantly cheaper, cleaner and safer renewable energy path, and another opting for the nuclear tack, which a newly released CSIRO report has shown to be significantly more expensive.
And then on December 12, The Guardian reported that “Energy experts have warned the cost of building nuclear power plants in Australia could be more than double what the CSIRO has suggested, based on international experience.”
Associate Professor Ruff, also a physician, questioned, during an interview, the safety of nuclear power plants and pointed to statistics illustrating that serious childhood diseases increased as they lived geographically closer to those plants, and that could be up to 50km away.
He also argues about the normalisation of nuclear power and sees the use of it for the generation of electricity as a “Trojan horse” for Australia becoming equipped with nuclear weapons.
That view was echoed by Mr Sweeney, who points out that Australia has abundant resources — wind, solar and hydro — to create sufficient renewable energy, along with battery back-up, to power the entire country.
Mr Sweeney has offered to visit Shepparton, virtually, early next year to talk about the decision people here will face at the next federal election.
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